Thinking about angels

 

The angel said to Zechariah, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news…” (Luke 1:19)

How seriously do you take angels? Do you believe in them? If you do, do you have any idea what they are like? Do they play any part in your spiritual life?

The basic meaning of the word “angel” is simply messenger – they are essentially heavenly beings used by God to communicate with men and women (no doubt among other duties we know little about). In the Old Testament, of course, they figure quite frequently, and we meet them in various places in the New Testament, especially as heralds of the resurrection.

There’s no suggestion that, usually, they shine with a heavenly light or that they are equipped with wings; indeed, their appearance is likely to be quite ordinary (after all, according to Numbers 22, Balaam’s ass recognised the angel before Balaam did! – which admittedly doesn’t say a lot for Balaam).

It’s when we come to the Christmas story that it’s hard to avoid angels. So let’s focus on five key episodes to see if they might in some way enrich our understanding as Christians.

First, according to Luke 1:8-25, Gabriel (the only named angel) appears to one of Israel’s priests, Zechariah, while he is carrying out his duties in the Jerusalem temple: “an angel of the Lord appeared to him and… he was gripped with fear” (verses 11 and 12).

Gabriel has a two-fold message for Zechariah. First, there is good news – he and his wife Elizabeth, in spite of their advancing years, will become parents, as they have prayed for many years. Their son will have a special role in God’s plans: “filled with the Holy Spirit” from birth, his role will be to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord”. Enter John the Baptist on the stage of human history!

But there is bad news too. Zechariah questions Gabriel’s message – “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well on in years” – whereupon Gabriel tells him that he will be deprived of the gift of speech until John is born.

Second, Gabriel goes on to visit Mary (Luke 1:26-38). Here too he is a bringer of good news: she is to be the mother of “the Son of the Most High”. Like Zechariah, she expresses doubt: “How will this be… since I am a virgin?” But unlike Zechariah she is not rebuked (I wonder why not: any suggestions?). She is no doubt thoroughly dazed: but it isn’t long before joy and wonder kick in.

Gabriel, then, is above all a bringer of good news – but also a stern rebuker of small faith.

Third, an unnamed angel is sent to Joseph, Mary’s husband-to-be (Matthew 1:18-24). Joseph must have had a terrible shock when Mary told him about her pregnancy, so on this occasion the role of the angel is simply to give him reassurance: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit…”

And so the marriage of Joseph and Mary begins under these extraordinary circumstances.

Fourth, another unnamed angel appears to shepherds out in the fields on the night Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:8-15).

Many preachers and commentators have remarked – rightly - on the fact that it was to people at the bottom of the social scale (that’s where shepherds were) that Jesus’ birth should first be announced. Is that something we need to get our heads round, especially those of us who belong to predominantly comfortable, middle-class churches?

The way Luke tells the story, there’s nothing to suggest that the angel was anywhere but simply standing in front of the shepherds – though he is the bringer of a frightening heavenly glow (the “glory of the Lord”, verse 9) which “terrified” them. It’s only after the angel has told them about the birth of “the Messiah” that “suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel” and the night was filled with gloriously unearthly  worship. (I wonder what that sounded like!)

Fifth, an angel appears again to Joseph in Matthew 2:13-23. In fact, he appears twice: first, to tell Joseph to get Mary and Jesus away, quickly, to Egypt, to escape from Herod; and second, to get them back home once the coast is clear and the danger is past. The angel’s role is simply a matter of guidance.

I hope you might have found this brief skim through the role of angels in the Christmas story interesting. But it still leaves the question, So what? Believing that angels exist, and seeing them in action, so to speak, is fine; but what difference does it make to how we live and act?

Answer: probably not a lot!

Certainly, we are not to become too interested in them, as some in the early church seem to have done (see Colossians 2:18). But neither should we be sentimental about them, putting them on a par perhaps with Santa Claus. If nothing else, they remind us that there is a whole wonderful and mysterious unseen world, over and above our little universe, of which we know very little (as Hamlet told his friend Horatio: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”).

They remind us too of the unmeasurable resources available to God in working out his purposes.

Personally, just two reflections occur to my mind. First, one day, by God’s grace, I will be privileged to join with that heavenly choir that the shepherds heard. (And when that day comes, my worse than useless singing voice won’t matter a scrap!)

And second, if ever I should happen to meet an angel this side of death (I don’t rule that possibility out!), I hope his message to me will be the same as the one to the shepherds on that first Christmas night: “Colin, don’t be afraid” (Luke 2:10).

Father in heaven, please open my spiritual eyes and sharpen my sensitivity to unseen, eternal things. So may my faith be deepened and my anticipation stirred as I reflect on what awaits me when this earthly life is over. Amen.